Boll's tactics against Harimoto

allencorn said:

I really enjoyed watching the Boll-Harimoto match. Though Boll was a tad fortunate to come back from such big deficits, his tactics seemed really well thought out to exploit Harimoto's style. To my eye, he gave Harimoto no pace to work with from the start of the point, serving heavy underspin or dead to the middle of the table, and returning balls to the same place with very little pace. Toward the end he seemed ready for Harimoto's attacks, as Harimoto almost always has to drive cross court because hitting so hard and flat he needs that much table. Several times I swear Harimoto hit what he thought was a winner, looked like he began to "Cho" but Boll returned the ball past him.

I wonder if this style of playing Harimoto can be adapted by others to give him trouble. Boll has a unique set of skills and touch, and not many could pull that off, but it will be interesting to see how Harimoto progresses and others adapt.

Is that what others saw?

Click to expand...

allencorn said:

I really enjoyed watching the Boll-Harimoto match. Though Boll was a tad fortunate to come back from such big deficits, his tactics seemed really well thought out to exploit Harimoto's style. To my eye, he gave Harimoto no pace to work with from the start of the point, serving heavy underspin or dead to the middle of the table, and returning balls to the same place with very little pace. Toward the end he seemed ready for Harimoto's attacks, as Harimoto almost always has to drive cross court because hitting so hard and flat he needs that much table. Several times I swear Harimoto hit what he thought was a winner, looked like he began to "Cho" but Boll returned the ball past him.

I wonder if this style of playing Harimoto can be adapted by others to give him trouble. Boll has a unique set of skills and touch, and not many could pull that off, but it will be interesting to see how Harimoto progresses and others adapt.

Is that what others saw?

Click to expand...